Lets face it, the iPod has helped Apple a great deal getting the company were it is today. But is the iPod everything that the company would like us to believe? Mmmm… lets see… Yes, the iPod looks nice, and yes it has good sound quality. Is it the best-looking mp3 player out there? Well, like they say “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. Is it the best sounding one? Who knows… but its hard to believe when there are competitors out there like Sony and Creative, which have excellent sound quality ratings and have been on the sound business for years. Is this another of Apple’s myths? Judge for yourselves…

iTunes… Yes iTunes… why iTunes? Some might say, iTunes is a great program with great features, and it is. However, iTunes is the only way you can interact with your iPod. Other mp3 players can be accessed directly from “My Computer” just as if you were accessing a flash drive. This makes the iPod particularly inflexible and limited to what it can do, making Apple the intermediary when it comes to transferring media in and out of their product.

2) You can only play songs purchased from iTunes on your iPod:

Apple’s FairPlay DRM protection will only allow songs purchased trough iTunes to be played on your iPod, or in the computer you purchased the songs from. If you happen to trade your iPod for another brand of mp3 player, your iTune-purchased songs just became useless. Apple just punished you for the “sin” of being disloyal to their product. This type of behavior would get Microsoft crucified by public opinion.

3) Can’t play music purchased in iTunes in other (software) mp3 players:

Want to use Windows Media Player or Winamp, which is faster and less cluttered than iTunes?, well you can’t. Again, FairPlay DRM protected songs can only be played in iTunes or in the iPod.

4) Non-replaceable battery:

iPods come with an internal rechargeable battery. Rechargeable batteries are not eternal; they will stop holding their charge eventually and when yours does guess what? It’s over… If you have your iPod under warranty you can send it to Apple and you will get back a refurbished iPod that will probably not even be your own, if you are out of warranty, guess where your $300 iPod is going… yes you guessed it… to the garbage. You can choose to get it replaced by Apple for $100 but that is probably what your used iPod will be worth by the time the battery stops charging. In addition if your battery gets depleted you can’t change it by a spare one, keep this in mind if you need the device to be functioning for long periods of time, like a camping trip.

5) No FM radio, and therefore, no capability of recording from the radio:

There are many MP3 players in the market that have capability to receive and record FM radio and save these recordings in mp3 format. With the iPod you have to buy a separate adapter and pay extra for this feature. This adapter however will only work with newer iPods and will not allow you to record.

6) Cannot use the iPod’s memory as storage space:

Lets face it, you might not always have a flash drive or a blank CD with you, but you will most likely have your mp3 player. Lets say you have an emergency and you are at a friend’s house working on a important school project and you want to transfer the work you created in MS Word from his computer to yours… Better find something else, the iPod will not let you. Again this is due to the fact that iTunes is the only method of interacting with the iPod

7) No voice recording capability:

Want to record what your professor is saying in class or an unexpected important event. Many mp3 players out there will give this feature, the iPod will not.

8 ) Can’t natively play WMA format:

WMA gives companies the capability of using DRM and produces files smaller than mp3 format. For these reasons WMA is particularly convenient for audio book publishers, an industry where this format is widely used. However, since a competing company, no other than Microsoft, developed it Apple chose to ignore its existence. There are however ways to convert WMA to other formats compatible with the iPod but this can become a hassle if you have a big music collection, do to the time it takes to convert each song.

9) Cost:

Yes. In general the iPod is generally more expensive than other mp3 players and the worst part is that competing products offer you more for less money, making the “real value” gap even wider. Reading all the previously stated reasons above you can agree with me that iPods just do not offer you your money’s worth. Again…. you are just paying extra for the Apple name, you are basically paying more for less.

10) Health?:

And if all these concerns weren’t enough, a study recently discovered that iPods can cause pacemakers to malfunction when placed near them like in a shirt pockets. Who would have known that iPods could also be hazardous to somebody’s health? Of course to be fair, probably no other player has been tested for this. And they might have similar effects as well. iPods might have been unfairly chosen for the study due to their popularity. Before I start receiving hate letters from Apple lovers, bear in mind that this article is regarding iPod’s disadvantages not its advantages. I totally recognize that there are positive aspects about the iPod like its intuitive controls, battery charge duration and its accessory variety. The iPod does have more accessories than any other mp3 player out there, mostly because companies want to take advantage of the iPod’s big market share. However, this does not mean that other mp3 players do not offer you the accessory you are looking for. There are many mp3 players that have the FM Transmitter, the docking station and the long lasting battery. Just be a smart shopper and evaluate all your options before investing your money. Don’t become the bait of an advertisement hook. ;)

48 comments:

Nanofuture, 24. July 2011, 17:42

Yeah… as many have mentioned, numbers 1, 2, and 6 are demonstrably false. In face, number 6 is one of the reasons why the Zune lost to the iPod (it cannot be used as external storage as readily as the iPod can). I haven’t used iTunes in years and it hasn’t affected my ability to manage the songs on my iPod. A quick Google search will reveal the numerous ways you can accomplish this.

The iPod is actually one of the few (if not only) apple products that is actually worth the price as they are surprisingly high quality with nice features.

Yes, I know that I’m posting in a 4 year old thread.

Jeff, 23. December 2010, 17:07

#1: there are 3rd party ways to access an ipod for music transfer. but why would you? iTunes is superior in every way to winamp and WMP
#2: fat lie. you can add any mp3 in your private collection to your ipod and listen anywhere
#3: first… again who would use such an outdated and kluge program as winamp or WMP. and if you really are that desperate to, it is really not hard to “clean” the DRM from an MP3. but i have never found it necessary… purchased content plays just fine in any of the media server applications i use.
#4: true, but the 20gig ipod i purchased for my mother 7-8 years ago is still ticking just fine and never has had to have the battery replaced. can’t say that about other mp3 players that last no more then 2-3 years
#5: Radio? hmm… listen to my music library and shuffle an number of my own playlists or listen to commercials and a DJ that sounds like a 70’s porn star. (ok maybe the ladies would like the porn star Dj)
#6: lie… there are several options for using your ipod like a usb flash device. easily googled
#7: true (unless you own an itouch or iphone) but you can a small flash recording device for very cheap and save you from having to buy an inferior ipod wannabe device (jack of all trades master of none).
#8: seriously WMA? no one professionally would ever touch WMA digital music with a 10 foot pole. It is one of the worse codecs for sound quality… yes it makes smaller files then most codecs BUT absolutely HIDEOUS quality. very few companies still produce WMA with DRM because of the cost and it “does not play well with others” your limited on what program you can play back your content, much more so then Itunes DRM even.
#9: true, but again you get what you pay for. that ipod i bought for my mother… in 8 years she would be working on her 3rd if i had gone another way.
#10 i hear ipods eat babies too and will allow aliens to control your brain too!

yes there are cheaper alternative and yes a small % have had to replace their batteries and that is both expensive and unfortunate… but bottom line is you get what you pay for and with an ipod you get a lot. no one else really has come close on easy of use feature and value… my mother is 65 and manages her own cd collection of other 15,000 songs with very little help.

ganesh shetty, 25. October 2010, 2:03

Thanks for the info, wat i feel is wheher its ipod or mp3 , the real effect/clarity of the sound depends on the quality of the head fones you choose . & this is the real fact .so choose good head fones you’ll enjoy..

chris, 19. September 2010, 3:21

i want to get an ipod touch but im scared of getting on n my battery stuffs up n then im f’d up cause i m gonna spend like $400 on it

ip, 4. August 2010, 7:36

i recentlly bought an iPhone and i wanted to know can i use iTunes just for downloading free stuff and does iTunes charge any monthly fee for it (downloading free things) and do i have to pay some fee for uploading those songs which are already present on my computer??????????????????………………. I’ll appreciate any kind advice ..;… please help anybody!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amelia, 5. May 2010, 8:14

i agree but you can get the songs from frost wire and add them to itunes instead of buyin them from itunes

mimi ticuloza, 1. May 2010, 22:12

i just got my itouch for free,, BUT The thought of its battery wearing out eventually makes me sad, though. I’m more of a Windows fan,, i just realized the other day that my antivirus was blocking iTunes from accessing the internet. But I choose to stick to copytrans cause it’s simple and not complicated unlike Media Monkey,, I am tempted to use iTunes but I don’t seeany point in using it since I don’t buy music from iTunes. What’s so good about CopyTrans is u can transfer mP3 songs directly from pc folders to your ipod and vice versa . I must admit you have to use earphones to hear the best sound quality when playing songs on your iPod, but I don’t know,, I just love my itouch. Or i just like showing off , i guess, LOL

this is so bad for the youth cause it affect the student life
its so expensive and i can tell its a time killer
i encourage you not to have a ipod when you are in school
take all your focus on your skool work and have a fun in skool ha!ha!ha!

I have an iPod that I have had for four years now, before your article was published, and i feel that some of your information that you have “researched” is incorrect.
All of the music on my iPod has either been downloaded from another sites or taken from CD’s that i have previously bought. You do not have to purchase the music from the iTunes store. You can just drag your music into the iTunes program.
Although iTunes is the main program to use your iPod on there are other music programs available that are alos conpatible with the iPod.
You are also able to use your iPod as a storage device without effecting your music. So you can use it instead of a pen. There is a option in your iPod settings that allows you to not automatically syncronise your iPod with the computer it is plugged into.
I agree with you that they are expensive, if not riduculously overpriced, and there are other MP3 players that are able to do the same things that the iPod can do. They don’t have the most amazing quality of sound, but it is acceptable, as the main usuer of the iPod is children and young adults that more than likely cant tell the difference between the quality.
Also on the new version of iTunes any file that is in a WMA format will be automatically re-formatted into a MP3 format.
I also agree on your point, that not being able to access or change the batterry is a very bad idea.

Fahim Wahid, 27. December 2009, 22:35

I still think the price of ipod touch is not reasonable even it is the best product. My friend bought an mp4 player for less than $100 a year ago, where itouch is still $199. Talking about features, it is full featured touchscreen and has most of the option that itouch has (except two finger zooming) plus it has a flash camera with ability to record video. My another friend bought an itouchrecently and i got bored using it in ONE day. People who give more importance to showing off than functionality, they will probably feel itouch is reasonable because they count showing off as a costly feature.
Being an economic student, my advice is to ask yourself these questions:
A futureshop or bestbuy flyer has all mp3 players in one section and ipod touch add in seperate section with more writings. How much do you think the apple pays to those retailers for putting their product into separate page? Where do you think the apple makes up these money to maintain their profit? These explains why it is expensive comparitively. Bear in mind, there is a large percent of your money that is used to provide further advertisement instead of providing you more feature if you buy itouch.

Pablo Garcia, 9. December 2009, 21:12

higeemah:
I suggest you read the date of the article, back then the ipod did not have FM radio. Everything in the article is 100% correct for the date. I did my research before writing the article and sadly most of it is still true. The prices are still not reasonable. You can get a much better MP3 player player for a better price.

higeemah, 9. December 2009, 11:56

For one, you CAN upload music to your ipod from other sites besides ipod. There is FM and AM radio on the ipod. The prices are pretty reasonable considering all the features it comes with. A lot of these statements you have writen are FALSE. So i suggest making sure your facts are 100% true before you post them.
But i needed disadvantages of the iPod and this was very helpful.
Thank you. (:

Liz, 26. October 2009, 19:12

I’m writing an article for a school newspaper (it’s an assignment). I also do not agree with ALL of your disadvantages listed. You can play WMA on the iPod, and converting music doesn’t take long. Although some of the information you have posted has helped me, I’d like you to make sure you get all your info right next time. The next person to read your info may need it like I do, and they can be mislead.
Which is not good.

Thanks for the info

..., 27. September 2009, 21:45

Very true. For all you iPod lovers out there, RACK YOUR BRAINS, ‘CAUSE IT WON’T TAKE LONG!

Syndrome666, 28. July 2009, 4:05

By the way most mp3 players don’t have a replaceable battery, pricewise, apple was too expensive, but if you look at the current models, their prices are reasonable, but still not as compatible as say the new sony digital audio/video players, but they are cheaper than those sony models. So really it all depends on what you look for. But overall ipod is so popular because it’s easy to use and has the most convenient control pad, but sucks at providing convenience toward interacting with other machines than the home machine. My next step is to see if it’s possible to configure ipod to read files other than aac, mp3, and mp4. That’s when an ipod can stand out from the many, but until then, ipod is still in early stages of developement.

connor sullivan, 6. May 2009, 13:18

I love my Ipod my teacher is having me write about the disadvatages about it so this site has helped alot but i dont agree with alot of what this blog has said so thanks and get your info right next time

Pablo Garcia, 13. April 2009, 7:39

You can say that walkmans have been around since the 70’s, and they have not isolated anyone. Why is it going to happen now with the iPOD? Music help people relax after a stressful day at work, etc. Also If you are going to attack iPODs or MP3 players in general, then what can be said about Cell Phones? Video Games?, etc, etc, etc.

mimi, 12. April 2009, 11:14

am doing an essay about the ipod advantages , refuting an article named ” society is dead : we have retreated into the iworld ” wrote by andrew sullivan , who said that ipod isolates people from the surrounding environment , and made no communications between people. I need help plzz , how can i disagree with what this author is saying and prove it by evidences. i will be happy with any good ideas :) thnxx

Fatuma, 28. March 2009, 14:14

OMGG
should i get an Ipod or an mp3?!?!
I dont know yet
hmmmmmmmmmmmmm
UGHHHHHHH..any advice?

Tim, 26. March 2009, 9:08

1) You can use Copytrans instead of iTunes – Compatible with Iphone 2.0 software on the iphone and ipod Touch.
2) Don’t buy your tunes from iTunes. You can’t put iTunes ‘mp3s’ on other devices but you can put normal mp3s on your iPhone/iPod. So why bother buying from iTunes. Why bother buying mp3s from ANY site when it’s usually cheaper to get the CD on E-bay or Amazon and then rip it. (unless it’s brand spanking new and even then it’s not that much difference and it’s worth it for the extra album art and the CD as ‘hard backup’.
3) See above – but I have to say that this particular disadvantage AND the one above are
i) Very similar and
ii) A disadvantage of i-Tunes NOT the ipod
4) Dunno about the i-Pod but people are now making sleeves for the i-Phone which may get around this problem.
5) Recording from radio would often entail a breach of copyright. Also FM radio is pretty much poor quality. I prefer to stick to the spirit of the law (e.g. I won’t copy anything I haven’t already paid for but I’ll make as many copies of my OWN PROPERTY as I damn well like) but if I didn’t I’d rather bittorrent and get something high quality rather than a DJ talking over a fuzzy song. Most FM content is now also available online as well.
6) There are software solutions for this one (DIskaid or if you don’t care about T&Cs that try and restrict what you do with your own property you could Jailbreak)
7) The new iPod Touch and the iPhone will have voice recording natively on 3.0 and there are third party apps you can do it with now.
8) Not a big fan of WMA anyway but file conversion isn’t THAT much of an issue. There are plenty of mp3 players that don’t support Apple’s format.
9) You got me on this one – but then I got given my iphone for free!
10) You can’t really say this is a health issue. It’s a people with pacemakers issue. I’d say it’s the big spinning magnets that we call ‘hard drives’ that may be at issue here which means that the Solid-state ipods wouldn’t be an issue (although the iPhone woud due to the microwave transmitter – but that’s true of all mobile phones). I mean, magnetic fishing games can also be an issue with people with pacemakers. Pacemakers work using electromagnets – so I’d say the fault lay with the pacemaker.

In conclusion I’d just like to add that I’m not a die-hard apple fanatic (I only own an iphone and my relationship to it would definitely be described as love/hate) and probably wouldn’t have bought one – my iPhone was given to me. The problem I have with this article is that points 1, 2 and 3 are essentially the same point, points 4, 6, 7 and 8 are solveable using 3rd party solutions (or solved by the more recent versions of the ipod or upcoming firmware updates) and 10 is pretty much made up as the issue at hand is true of a large amount of electrical and magnetic devices. The only thing left is 5 which is price (even more emphasised by the need to buy some of the 3rd party devices and software to do stuff that most mp3 players do anyway). Which kind of leaves us with a lot less than 10.

But then “Two iPod disadvantages” doesn’t sound as good now, does it?

rashad, 25. March 2009, 17:06

yeah i got a ipod so what….yeah i paid 300 dollars for it so what…..yeah mine is a 120 gig so what…..yeah i listen to it everyday so what….yeah eventually the battery gonna not charge anymore(so is your car battery) so what…everything has disadvantages and advantages but what i really wannna so is…………………………………………..thank you like cuz i could not think of any disadvantages for a ipod cuz i love mine…..and i needed it for an assignment…lol

Annie, 15. March 2009, 4:56

Hey, thanks for all this info. I was gonna get an iPod but now i might not… I also needed this info for an major assignment! Thanks so much.

uhmmmmm okay. listen uppp. it doesnt matter who you are or what you thinkTHE IPOD IS AMAZING!!! (:

Pratinc, 16. November 2008, 5:16

Hey you can use apple iPod as a flash drive u can also Record voice and run radio can play WMA

milly, 15. November 2008, 9:56

Some of the facts are not true and can i also add that i must say tht u are very pesimistic!!!!!
In addition, i would like to say that you comments have helped me a lot to think about these things. I have an i-pod myself and it has proved very reliable and i see no problem like you have seen. However, reading your passage was………… interesting!

mike, 9. November 2008, 4:31

haha use media monkey it has support to make it so you never have to use itunes again :D:D:D

Chloé, 7. November 2008, 12:21

Thanks
This helped me a lot on my business coursework
Your’e a lifesaver lol
:)

Pablo Garcia, 4. November 2008, 13:52

Please do not try to write several posts using the same IP and diferent names, if you do your posts will be marked as spam.

nathan from australia, 15. October 2008, 20:38

my real name is rodreigez and i just got a computer this is the first time i have used one but i got an ipods wen they first came out

nathan from australia, 15. October 2008, 20:36

nathan loves to do stuff yukky stuff

Pablo Garcia, 15. October 2008, 20:29

You are welcome, glad to hear it Nathan.

nathan from australia, 15. October 2008, 20:27

thanks:)

nathan from australia, 15. October 2008, 20:25

great this helped me do my assignment greatly

CCH, 16. June 2008, 23:49

I completely agree with you. I am so glad I am not the only one with this opinion. I personally don’t want to have to go through a whole bunch of complicated crap and spend extra money just to listen to music on a progressively dying player. The ease of use and pure reliability of other brands make them better than an iPod. As far as sound quality goes, I’ve listened to the iPod and other brands; I honestly barely noticed a difference, if any. If you don’t care about blowing your money away now, and in the future years to come, then go ahead and buy an iPod, but I don’t think it’s worth the money.

Sam, 13. May 2008, 0:19

You’re absolutely RIGHT!!!!!!!!!1

B.C, 27. March 2008, 15:36

thanks, this was a good help for my coursework! :)

sabbir, 26. March 2008, 23:27

some of it is true but not all …yea u can use the ipod as storage space and the batteries dont cost that much anymore….n one more thing is tht if u just write down the disadvantages then ppl will just see the disadvantages n not buy it but i bet there is more advantages than disadvantages..
even through my ipod is the last generation one but still i love it because it has some advantages tht the other mp3 player dont hav. I m not sayin tht ipods are better than the mp3 players but it is better than a lot of mp3 players.

Orlando Otero, 15. March 2008, 21:29

True, I had an iPod, the battery went dead so the iPod, it was after warranty, so no use to send it back. I just had to trash it and buy another brand, it has FM, recording capabilities, really small, 5GB and cost way less than iPod. It does not play videos but I do not need video in such small screen, I just want my Cuban timba music with good quality sound.

Orlando.

wats the big deal about ipods, 13. March 2008, 14:40

about time there is an article on this ipods because they aren’t as good as everyone thinks they are great but they aren’t that good its because they were a major breakthrough in music technology and everyone is sticking to the ‘devil they know’. that means that there is probably loads of better mp3 playes that people don’t know about because everyones got an ipod. for example when youtube came out everyone used it (and still do even though the quality is horrendous) by now there are loads of websites which play videos in much better quality but because of youtube no one really cares

pheladi, 10. March 2008, 7:29

ipods are mostly wanted by people who can’t afford it, so the only way to get them is ti steal them wich puts our lives in risk.

nishat, 18. February 2008, 22:13

wow i never really thought about this stuff!!!! hmmmm….i guess i’ll have to think a bit harder to weather if i wann a bbuy one or not.

gur, 14. December 2007, 4:31

yah i agree

but i lov my ipod

i also think you should look at all option rather than just one

AK 47, 7. December 2007, 0:36

I do agree with most of the information you have put onto this article. However, there are as you said advantages that you should include before you trash talk about the iPod anymore. I highly believe that the iPod is a revolution for the future, especially since the latest iPod Touch was released. Most other MP3 players do not have as better quality as the iPod.

By the way, I am not a huge Apple fan, just so you know.

I hope you find my advice helpful.

D, 25. September 2007, 12:08

Thank you so much! I’ve been saying this for years and my family and friends all say I’m crazy. At least there’s two of us out there!

I personally don’t like the iPod’s touchy controls and it ticks me off knowing that all the competition including cell phone companies are trying to use those controls.

Give me buttons that I can feel when I’m running or driving!

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